1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for processing data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing the caching of data by a browser on a client.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of the sending network to a protocol used by the receiving network. When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply “the Web”. Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.). The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify “links” to other Web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URL is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a “page” or a “Web page”, is identified by a URL. The URL provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this information, not necessarily for the user, but mostly for the user's Web “browser”. A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by an identifier, such as, for example, a URL. A user may enter a domain name through a graphical user interface (GUI) for the browser to access a source of content. The domain name is automatically converted to the Internet Protocol (IP) address by a domain name system (DNS), which is a service that translates the symbolic name entered by the user into an IP address by looking up the domain name in a database.
Some of the features that provide a dynamic and adaptive nature for Web browsers used in surfing or browsing the Internet also are features that have high security concerns for individuals concerned about personal privacy. These features include cookies and page caching.
For example, when the user visits a credit card Website to view personal data, cookies and cached Web pages concerning the user's visit may be cached onto the hard drive of the computer being used. Subsequent visits to other Websites may encounter fraudulent or mischievous sites that may wish to view or steal personal data from the user's hard drive.
Some solutions for this issue include Web designers designing sites to prevent cookie or page caching to occur on the client computer. An example is a Java application that displays personal data in the application itself and not on the Web browser. Further, third-party plug-ins that flush all cookies and cache at set intervals also have been used. Additionally, one may manually set purge requests in the Web browser. One problem with programs providing for purging of sensitive data at set intervals or with the user manually purging data from the browser cache is that all of the data is purged. In some cases, such an event is undesirable. Further, in between events in which the browser cache is purged, a visit to a malicious Website may still result in the theft of personal or confidential data.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing the caching of data by a browser on a data processing system.